Publication Date:
March 1, 1996
Effective Date:
March 1, 1996
Expiration Date:
July 29, 1996
Hearing Date:
April 15, 1996
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT
Health and Social Services
(Community Services, Chs. HSS 30--)
Rules were adopted creating ch. HSS 38, relating to treatment foster care for children.
Exemption From Finding of Emergency
The Legislature in s. 182 (1) of 1993 Wis. Act 446 directed the Department to promulgate rules under s. 48.67 (1), Stats., as amended by Act 446, for licensing treatment foster homes, to take effect on September 1, 1994, by using the emergency rule-making procedures under s. 227.24, Stats., but without having to make a finding of emergency. They will remain in effect until replaced by permanent rules.
Analysis prepared by the Department of Health and Social Services
This rule-making order implements s. 48.67 (1), Stats., as amended by 1993 Wis. Act 446, which directs the Department to promulgate rules establishing minimum requirements for issuing licenses to treatment foster homes, including standards for operation of those homes.
Treatment foster care is a family-based and community-based approach to substitute care and treatment for children who are medically needy or emotionally disturbed and for some developmentally disabled children, and could be an alternative to institutionalization for some children. Treatment foster care is provided in a foster home by foster parents who meet education and training requirements which exceed the requirements for regular foster care, and by social service, mental health and other professional staff.
A number of public and private agencies have recently begun providing “treatment foster care,” but since there are no standards currently for this type of care, those programs vary considerably in the type and quality of services they provide. These rules establish minimum standards that agencies, professional staff and foster parents would have to meet in order to claim that they are providing treatment foster care.
The rules require treatment foster homes to comply with ch. HSS 56 for regular foster homes except when there is a conflict between a provision of these rules and ch. HSS 56, in which case these rules take precedence.
The rules cover making application to a licensing agency for a treatment foster home licensee, licensee qualifications, licensee responsibilities, respite care for foster parents, responsibilities of the providing agency, the physical environment of a treatment foster home, care of the children and training for treatment foster parents.
Publication Date:
September 1, 1994
Effective Date:
September 1, 1994
Expiration Date:
1993 Wis. Act 446, s. 182
Hearing Date:
January 24, 25 & 26, 1995
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT (2)
Health and Social Services
(Health, Chs. HSS 110--)
1. Rules were adopted creating ch. HSS 182, relating to lead poisoning prevention grants.
Exemption From Finding of Emergency
The Legislature in s. 9126 (27x) (b) of 1995 Wis. Act 27 directed the Department to promulgate rules required under s. 254.151, Stats., as created by Act 27, using emergency rulemaking procedures, but exempted the Department from the requirement under s. 227.24 (1) and (3), Stats., to make a finding of emergency. They will take effect on publication in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Analysis
These rules implement the requirement in s. 254.151, Stats., as amended by 1995 Wis. Act 27, that the Department establish criteria by rule for the award of grants to fund educational programs, including programs for health care providers, about the dangers of lead poisoning or exposure to lead; to fund lead poisoning or lead exposure screening, care coordination and follow-up services, including lead inspections, for or on behalf of children under the age of 6, not covered by third-party payers; to fund administration and enforcement activities of local health departments that, under s. 254.152, Stats., are designated by the Department to be its agents for administration and enforcement of ss. 254.11 to 254.178, Stats.
The grant program was established in mid-1994. The requirement that the Department's criteria for awarding grants be set out in rules was added by Act 27 in mid-1995. The amount available in the appropriation for grant awards is $879,000 for each year of the 1995-97 biennium.
The rules identify who may apply or a grant, describe the application process, provide for preliminary review of applications by the Department for compliance with format and content requirements set out in the relevant request for proposals (RFP), provide for evaluation of applications by one or more review committees appointed by the Department and specify 14 criteria for use in that final review, note that the Department will award grants based on the recommendations of the review committee or committees and taking into consideration other specified factors and describe the awards process and conditions that are imposed when grants are awarded.
Publication Date:
December 5, 1995
Effective Date:
December 5, 1995
Expiration Date:
May 4, 1996
Hearing Date:
January 16, 1996
Extension Through:
July 2, 1996
2. Rules adopted creating ss. HSS 111.04 (2m) and 112.04 (3m), relating to authorized actions of emergency medical technicians-intermediate and paramedic.
Finding of Emergency
The Department of Health and Social Services finds that an emergency exists and that the adoption of rules is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:
Actions that emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are authorized to carry out in providing emergency medical care in prehospital and interfacility settings are now specified in s. 146.50 (6m), Stats. A recent session law, 1993 Wis. Act 251, repealed that statute effective January 1, 1996 and directed the Department to have rules in place on that date that specify what those actions are. The Department has separate chapters of rules for licensing EMTs-basic, EMTs-intermediate and EMTs-paramedic. This emergency order amends ch. HSS 111, rules for licensing EMTs-intermediate, and ch. HSS 112, rules for licensing EMTs-paramedic, to specify the actions that EMTs-intermediate and EMTs-paramedic may carry out.
Through separate permanent rulemaking orders, the Department is revising chs. HSS 111 and 112 in their entirety in order to specify the authorized actions of EMTs-intermediate and EMTs-paramedic and, at the request of the new Emergency Medical Services Board under s. 146.58, Stats., to update the chapters. However, those rulemaking orders have not yet been transmitted to the Legislative Council for review and therefore will not likely take effect until July 1, 1996 at the earliest. Consequently, the Department, in order to have the rules that specify the authorized actions of EMTs-intermediate and EMTs-paramedic in effect by January 1, 1996, when s. 146.50 (6m), Stats., will be repealed, is publishing the authorized actions subsections of the proposed revised permanent rules by this emergency order. This must be done because s. 146.50 (6n), Stats., which takes effect on January 1, 1996, provides that EMTs-intermediate and EMTs-paramedic may undertake only those actions that are authorized in rules promulgated by the Department. If those rules are not in effect on that date, ambulance services will not be able to provide emergency medical services using EMTs-intermediate or EMTs-paramedic and consequently there will be reduced availability of emergency medical services and a threat to public safety.
Publication Date:
December 27, 1995
Effective Date:
January 1, 1996
Expiration Date:
May 30, 1996
Hearing Date:
March 1 & 8, 1996
Extension Through:
July 28, 1996
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT (2)
Health & Social Services
(Economic Support, Chs. HSS 200-)
1. Rules adopted revising ch. HSS 201, relating to a benefit cap pilot project under the AFDC program.
Exemption From Finding of Emergency
The Legislature in s. 12 (1) of 1995 Wis. Act 12 permitted the Department to promulgate the rules required under s. 49.19 (11s), Stats., as created by Act 12, by using emergency rulemaking procedures but without having to make a finding of emergency. They will take effect on January 1, 1996.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health & Social Services
Under s. 49.19, Stats., a family can apply and be determined eligible for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. If a family is determined eligible, the AFDC benefit amount is based, in part, on family size. The maximum amount of AFDC benefits a family can receive currently increases when an additional child is born.
On January 1, 1996, Wisconsin will implement the AFDC Benefit Cap Demonstration Project, authorized under s. 49.19 (11s), Stats., as created by 1995 Wis. Act 12. The purpose of this demonstration is to test whether eliminating the increase in the AFDC grant when an additional child is born will encourage families on welfare to delay having more children until they are financially able to support them.
Under the demonstration project, a family will not receive an automatic increase in the AFDC grant when an additional child is born. Starting on January 1, 1996, a child born to a current or new recipient more than ten month after first receipt of benefits will be counted in the family size for AFDC assistance standard purposes but not for purposes of benefit determination. An exception will be made for a child born as a result of rape or incest. The benefit cap will first apply to children born on or after November 1, 1996. A child born on or after that date, although not counted in the family size for the purpose of determining the amount of the grant, will be counted for Medical Assistance and food stamp purposes, and the family will be entitled to receive other social service assistance for the child.
These are the rules for implementation of the AFDC Benefit Cap Demonstration Project. The rules describe how the Department will choose AFDC recipients who must participate in the demonstration, and outline the Department's responsibilities in administering the demonstration project.
Publication Date:
December 27, 1995
Effective Date:
January 1, 1996
Expiration Date:
May 30, 1996
Hearing Date:
February 16, 1996
Extension Through:
July 28, 1996
2. Rules were adopted revising chs. HSS 201 and 206, relating to pay for performance demonstration project under the AFDC program.
Exemption From Finding of Emergency
The Legislature in s. 12 (2) and (3) of 1995 Wis. Act 12 permitted the Department to promulgate the rules required under s. 49.193 (3m) and (9m), Stats., as created by Act 12, by using emergency rulemaking procedures but without having to make a finding of emergency. They will take effect on March 1, 1996.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Social Services
Under s. 49.19, Stats, families inquiring about the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program are immediately encouraged to apply for assistance without exploring possible alternatives to welfare. Once determined eligible, many families come to consider the AFDC program a program of long-term financial support, sometimes spanning generations. Yet AFDC was originally meant to be a temporary, emergency program.
Wisconsin has obtained approval from the Food and Consumer Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and from the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a Pay for Performance (PFP) demonstration project beginning March 1, 1996. The major objective of the Pay for Performance demonstration project is to focus on freedom from public assistance by encouraging immediate attachment to the work force and helping families explore alternatives to AFDC before becoming dependent on AFDC. The demonstration project will be conducted statewide except in Dane, Dodge, Jefferson and Waukesha counties. In those counties individuals may be assigned to a control group which will be exempt from the demonstration project requirements to permit evaluation of the demonstration project. Statutory authority for the Department to operate two related demonstration projects, Self-Sufficiency First and Pay for Performance, was included in 1995 Wis. Act 12. Under the federal government's terms and conditions of approval for demonstration project, the Department is now calling the combined project Pay for Performance.
The first component of the Pay for Performance demonstration project encourages alternatives to AFDC through services of a financial planning resource specialist (FPRS) and up-front job search. This component is directed at helping applicants identify alternatives to AFDC, facilitating immediate orientation and referral to the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program and requiring job search before receiving AFDC. Cooperation is made an AFDC eligibility requirement. An individual who fails without good cause to cooperate with these requirements will be ineligible to receive AFDC benefits for himself or herself and his or her family.
For an individual who becomes an AFDC recipient after fulfilling the applicant job search requirements, there is a second component of the Pay for Performance demonstration project. This requires the JOBS case manager to design an employability plan for the recipient that focuses on employment at the earliest opportunity and requires the recipient to participate in a set number of hours of participation in JOBS program activities or work to maintain AFDC eligibility. Failure, without good cause, to maintain participation as assigned will result in sanctions in the next possible month based on the number of hours missed without good cause multiplied by the federal minimum wage. Failure to participate in at least 25% of the assigned hours will result in no AFDC benefits being paid for that month and a reduction to $10 in food stamp benefits.
These are the rules for the implementation of the Pay for Performance demonstration project.
Publication Date:
March 1, 1996
Effective Date:
March 1, 1996
Expiration Date:
July 29, 1996
Hearing Date:
April 16, 1996
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT
Industry, Labor & Human Relations
(Uniform Dwellings, Chs. ILHR 20-25)
Rules adopted revising chs. ILHR 20 and 21, relating to one- and two-family dwellings constructed in flood hazard zones.
Finding of Emergency
The Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations finds that an emergency exists and that the adoption of the rule is necessary for the immediate preservation of public health, safety and welfare. The facts constituting the emergency are as follows:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has informed some municipalities that it will no longer allow variances to a local ordinance that prohibits the construction of homes in flood fringe areas where the foundation extends below the base flood elevation. FEMA regulations allow this type of construction in some locations but require the construction to meet a suitable building code. The Uniform Dwelling Code, which regulates new home construction in Wisconsin, has never addressed this issue. FEMA's actions have halted some residential projects, causing serious financial hardship for those affected Wisconsin builders and residents.
The proposed rules add requirements to the Uniform Dwelling Code for construction in flood fringe areas in order to meet FEMA requirements. The primary source of these rules is the National Building Code published by Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Incorporated (BOCA).
Publication Date:
May 8, 1996
Effective Date:
May 8, 1996
Expiration Date:
October 5, 1996
EMERGENCY RULES NOW IN EFFECT
Industry, Labor & Human Relations
(Building & Heating, etc., Chs. ILHR 50-64)
(Multi-Family Dwellings, Ch. ILHR 66)
Rule adopted delaying the effective date of a rule revision to portions of chs. ILHR 50 to 64 and 66, relating to energy efficiency.
